Anyone adopted a k9 angel dog?

[Imsosorryalan]

I was sent the link to their website. Oh my god! I just want to adopt all of them. So so sad. Has anyone done this.
I would really like to help them, just not sure about how their temperament would be after the experiences they have had?

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I'm not a dog owner but I am an animal lover and a long term vegetarian so maybe I'm a bit more cynical than most.

But these 3 animal loving women are helping dogs in places like Romania .
If they were educating, neutering and humanely PTS the dogs who were ill, unhomable then yes 100% support.

But why bring dogs to the UK. Why subject them to travelling and Quatentine.
Because I'm betting these dogs are vaccinated .Or if they are, they'd have to wait until the vaccines (I'm thinking rabies but there will be others) have taken effect.

When in the UK, 1000s of healthy dogs are sitting in Rescue , waiting.

Helping a few dogs is not going to help the situation in the bigger picture. OK it will make a difference to that one dog.

But you could say that about any dog in rescue.
I think the UK needs to put their own house in order, and if they want to go overseas and help animals then Good For Them.

But I'm not sure how welcome they would be (might be seen as interfering).
Much can be done to help them -financially. I'm not sure shipping unwanted animals to the UK to add to our own unwanted animal population is the way to do it.

[Scuttlebutter]

There is no easy or simple answer to the issue of helping overseas dogs, when there are many dogs in the UK sitting in pounds. Just looking at Wales, for instance, each year approximately 10,000 strays enter the system. Of these, roughly 4000 are reunited with their owners, and that leaves 6000 dogs needing to find homes. Unfortunately not all of them do, and around 500 dogs are killed in pounds each year (though thankfully the number has slowly declined in recent years). On top of these strays, rescues directly receive many dogs that are relinquished by their owners, and there is a steady stream too of ex racing greyhounds needing homes, as well as the pitiful dogs being spat out by puppy farmers, many of which end up in rescues. Believe me, if you want to home a needy dog, the UK can easily supply your requirements.

However, like many dog owners and animal volunteers, I share your concern about conditions for animals (not just dogs) overseas. My own view is that while I don't personally support importing dogs, I do support giving aid and assistance to developing sustainable long term dog welfare programmes in other countries. That could include donating, or it could mean providing help in setting up the long term political lobbying needed to change attitudes and the legislative framework. Simply importing a dog without attempting to change the setting that generates them is not sustainable and only creates a vacancy.

To give an example, Welsh greyhound activists have recently been involved in working with Irish volunteers to set up a greyhound welfare group that will campaign and lobby for better treatment for greys in the ROI - desperately needed. Another example is Sighthounds Online, a British sighthound charity, working to support galgo rescue organisations in Spain, by helping to fundraise to support veterinary costs and their Spanish shelters.

It's a very difficult issue, and there are a spectrum of views across the animal welfare community, many of which have powerful arguments.

If you are an experienced dog owner, and think you could provide a home for a dog that has undergone severe trauma, and may have been exposed to diseases not found in the UK such as Leich, then I wish you well.

[kitsmummy]

I think they're fantastic and to be honest, it's great to help any rescue dog, whether it's here or abroad. My dog daycare lady has two rescues from Spain (one with leish) and is getting a Thai meat dog from K-9 in November.

K-9 don't just import dogs, they also try to campaign for changes in conditions and attitudes over there too.

[Imsosorryalan]

I understand about our own uk dogs in shelters etc but to be honest their lifestyle in kennels is probably 5 star accommodation compared to what these dogs have been through. I can see your point though about funding and education which I think k9 do as well as rescuing them. The dogs seem to be rescued from terrible fates and if we didn't want to adopt them, what would happen to them? I did wonder about uk quarantine etc though and how that all works?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Imsosorryalan, you clearly have never seen the inside of a UK pound. I have. My dog came from one. It was a cold, wet concrete cell, with no bedding or anywhere dry to sleep during the day. There was a hosepipe running into the cells to wash away the urine (on the three separate occasions we visited this hosepipe was running. I can only assume it was on all day) leaving the dogs with not inch of dry concrete to lay on during the day.

My dog came home with open sores around his feet and his skin on his belly was red raw from laying in diluted urine and cold water all day.

I have no idea if they gave them bedding on a night, but I didn't see any bedding anywhere.

We asked whether mine was okay on a lead and they told us "Not really, but they only get out for about 20 minutes a day if we have enough staff that day, so they're very excited when they get out"

Fortunately this pound has now lost it's contract. I can only hope the new one has better conditions, although their rehoming policy is shocking and many dogs are returned because of it, one of whom is laying behind me now.

Rehoming a vetted rescue dog from somewhere like Dogs Trust ensures you get a dog you can cope with and you'll made aware of any behaviour problems it has and you are offered ongoing behavioural support. It also means there a new space for a pound dog to take up, somewhere clean, warm and dry.

The UK's stray and unwanted dogs are not given the care you would think they would have given that we are 'a nation of animal lovers'

[Scuttlebutter]

And most pound dogs are still better off than bitches on puppy farms.

[RedwingS]

If you specifically wanted to help dogs in Thailand, there is also an organization called the Soi Dog Foundation. They sterilize street dogs and then return them. (In case you think that sounds bad, remember that some street dogs are really communal pets - the locals feed them every day and would miss them - and sometimes what appears to be a street dog at one time of day has a home at night with the security guard). Sterilization keeps the population down. They have a shelter for stray dogs, and campaign on dog welfare in Thailand. They also rehome dogs in other countries, but only when explicitly asked to do so. They started in Phuket but are now expanding to Bangkok.

I think with any organization, whether it's helping dogs at home or abroad, you always have to ask yourself whether its policies and experience align with your own wishes. Sadly there are too many dogs - here and abroad - that need help.

[Doodlecraft]

Hello,
Re K-9 Angel dog. I have one! I can see all points of view here and totally understand. At K-9 Angels we were vetted very thoroughly and the rescue tries really hard to match the dogs with new owners. Temperaments can vary with any dog...but yes, some rescue dogs have had significant trauma and need experienced and / or patient owners who won't give up on them. The same is true for any pet of course.
I understand when people talk about the shelter situations in the UK and K-9 Angels do also share and support rehoming of dogs from within the UK as well as from abroad. They have their own shelter in Romania where animals apear to be treated paricularly badly, and lobby passionately for animal rights of all kinds. They support education in regard to animal welfare and have been into schools to promote care of pets.
All rescues want the same outcome for the dogs, to be safe and free from harm. For anyone reading I would say please don't shop for your new pet, please adopt. If you can't commit to a pet for life, please don't get one! Commenting favourably on rescue sites gives them hope, sharing details may lead to successful rehoming and donations are forever gratefully received